The Petra Nova project in Houston is back online after a three-year pause. This is the only U.S. power plant project to capture carbon dioxide at scale.
Petra Nova is the third utility-scale CCS power plant project operating in the world — one in Canada and another in China.
Petra Nova can capture up to 5,000 tons of CO₂ each day from the Texas coal plant.
What’s clear: Today, coal provides 20% of America’s power, but globally makes up 35%. It will remain a substantial source of electricity for decades to come and with technologies like the Petra Nova plant becoming commercially viable, coal can be used for electricity without producing emissions.
2. Holtec to partner with Wolverine Co-op on Palisades restart and deploy two new reactors
Holtec and Wolverine Power Cooperative will be bringing additional nuclear power to Michigan at the Palisades site.
Wolverine signed a power purchase agreement with Holtec to procure up to two-thirds of the 800 MWe shuttered Palisades nuclear plant. Hoosier Energy, a rural electric co-op, committed to purchasing the remaining electricity.
These commitments could help support the restart of the Palisades plant, the first time a decommissioning nuclear facility would be restarted.
Holtec also plans on constructing two new 300 MWe reactors at Palisades. These two reactors would eliminate nearly 7 million tons of carbon dioxide each year.
What’s clear: Operating nuclear plants provide about half of the country’s zero-emissions electricity. By maintaining existing nuclear plants and deploying new nuclear, homes and businesses will continue to have 24/7 clean, reliable, and affordable power.
3. Anotra Energy’s thermal battery launch
Thermal battery startup Antora Energy launched its first commercial-scale system which will lead to lower emissions for the industrial sector.
Industrial processes — like steel, cement, concrete or asphalt manufacturing—require 24/7 medium to high-temperature heat.
Antora’s thermal battery uses zero-emissions to provide electricity or continuous heat.
What’s clear: Industrial emissions are on track to be the largest emissions source by 2030. Antora’s launch of its first commercial-scale system is a key milestone on the path to low-carbon industrial heat.
4. Putting states in charge of sequestering CO2 is good climate policy
The list of permit applications to inject carbon dioxide underground for permanent storage has ballooned from 14 to 119. To date, the EPA has only approved two — both at Archer-Daniels-Midland Co.’s ethanol plant in IL.
An additional two draft permits for sites in Vigo County, IN aren’t yet final.
While two states, North Dakota and Wyoming, have the primacy to permit carbon sequestration projects, a number of others are applying.
Louisiana is currently at the last step of the primacy application process.
Arizona, Texas, and West Virginia are in the process of applying.
What’s clear: “The federal bureaucracy moves slower [than states] when push comes to shove. If EPA allowed ‘no-brainer states’ like Louisiana and Texas to assume responsibility for permitting for carbon injection wells, that would free up EPA to focus on permit applications from states that aren’t expected to ask for primacy,” said Jeremy Harrell,ClearPath’s Chief Strategy Officer.
5. $17.2 Million to use carbon dioxide for EOR
The DOE announced up to $17.2 million to evaluate CO₂-enhanced oil recovery to recover residual oil while safely and permanently storing that CO₂ underground in depleted domestic oilfields.
What’s clear: As the U.S. looks to scale up carbon capture technology, oil production using carbon dioxide for enhanced oil recovery could become more efficient and make carbon capture economics even more viable.
Plug in: Learn more about enhanced oil recovery here.
6. Amazon joins the carbon removal race
Amazon announced its intent to purchase the removal of 250,000 metric tons of CO₂ over a decade from a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corporation.
An Amazon-controlled fund will also take an equity stake in CarbonCapture Inc., a startup seeking to develop a direct air capture megaproject in Wyoming.
Amazon’s deals include an option to buy additional carbon removals amounting to 100,000 tons from CarbonCapture.
What’s clear: Deploying DAC technologies offers an exciting opportunity to add another tool to the toolbox for lowering global CO₂ emissions by removing CO₂ from the atmosphere.
7. Rich joins PBS!
ClearPath CEO Rich Powell will be appearing in the PBS show Power Trip: The Story of Energy.
Rich will appear in five out of the six episodes of the second season.
Power Trip began last week and continues every week throughout September.
Plug in: See the upcoming “Work” episode and check out the schedule for Power Trip’s release in Washington, D.C. here!
8. Low-carbon steel innovator Boston Metal closes $262M fundraising round
Global Metals technology solutions company Boston Metal announced the closing of its Series C fundraising, which will allow the company to grow its team globally and commercially demonstrate its Molten Oxide Electrolysis (MOE) platform for decarbonized steelmaking.
What’s clear: Boston Metal is on pace to ship its first high-value metals in 2024 and expects to introduce MOE to the steel market by 2026 – ultimately helping the industry to achieve 2050 net-zero promises.
Terra CO₂, a startup making cement additives, announced the first step in launching its technology to a commercial scale with plans for a facility in Texas in 2024.
The site should produce up to 240,000 metric tons of its supplementary cementing material (SCM) annually.
What’s clear: Cement and concrete production are accountable for 8% of human-caused carbon dioxide emissions worldwide, and American innovators like Terra offer one path to reducing that number.
10. We’re hiring! Are you our next CCUS Policy Advisor?
Join our growing team! We have launched a search for a policy advisor on our team. We are looking for a professional with experience in carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) as well as federal policies that accelerate deployment.
Plug in: Visit our website for more information on the position and other openings on our team.
11. Coming down the pipeline
ClearPath is a proud sponsor of the 7th Annual National Clean Energy Week, a celebration of clean energy throughout the United States.
Tune in for the hybrid Policymakers Symposium, offered virtually on September 26-27 and in person on September 28! Learn more about #NCEW23 and register here.
12. ICYMI
The Bipartisan Policy Center has assembled a group of experts to review and clarify the role that natural gas can play in the energy transition.
That’s all from us. Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!
